Chapter 5. Nah, no way. (1)
Chapter 5. Nah, no way. (1)
Yeah, yeah, that can happen, sure.
I mean, if you're in the middle of some otaku talk with a friend you made at the start of school, and some delinquent-looking kid with a super-shortened uniform comes up to talk to you, you might get a little freaked out.
But I feel wronged.
I've lived in this world for quite a while now, but I don't really feel like my mentality has changed all that much.
I've learned this and that while living in this world, but that doesn't mean my tastes have completely changed.
Since Soi is always sticking to me, it's difficult to fully reveal those tastes, but these days I do play smartphone games at angles where Soi can't see.
Honestly, my appearance doesn't look exactly innocent, and I do dress like this, but what I'm saying is that my essence hasn't changed much from back then.
Unfortunately.
...My wish that I'd naturally become a popular insider because I'd grow up into a badass beautiful high school girl wasn't something that was easy to achieve without effort.
"Do you want to get close to them?"
"Huh?"
Perhaps she had been watching me closely when I approached them earlier, Soi asked me.
"Uh..."
I fell into thought for a moment.
Do I want to get close to them?
Hmm, if I had to answer 'Yes' or 'No', it might be 'Yes'.
The reason I think 'it might be' is because even though the reason I talked to them was desperate, I wasn't sure if I genuinely wanted to become close friends with them.
It's true that I want friends I can talk nonsense with without a care. But if you ask me if I absolutely need those kids, well.
In reality, I just picked the kids who looked the easiest to approach.
...Is it too mean to think like this?
"Should I help you?"
"No. Ah."
I reflexively cut her off and refused as Soi asked with a smile, then shut my mouth.
Blink, blink.
Soi's eyes blink.
"Ah, do you not want to?"
"Ah, no, it's not that I don't want to..."
I quickly tried to make an excuse, but since I had already cut her off, it would be weirder if it didn't look like that.
But what can I do?
Because if Soi steps in, the situation will definitely get worse.
I realized something only after becoming a college student: there's a difference between 'looking like a delinquent' and 'actually being a delinquent'. Even if they dye their hair, dress to look tough, and hang out in groups, there were many kids who were actually just nice rather than bad when you talked to them.
But back in middle and high school, my impression of kids who shortened their uniforms and hung out together wasn't that great. Even if kids dressed like that didn't bully me or could talk to me comfortably, conversely, almost all the kids who liked to bully or tease me dressed like that.
Furthermore, adults generally describe kids who dress like that as delinquent. It means they are not easy opponents in the eyes of kids who listen to adults reasonably well.
I already went up and talked to them, scaring them, and then Soi, who looks like the leader of that group, talks to them directly?
If it were me in middle school, I would have thought I actually did something wrong.
"Hmm."
For some reason, Soi's eyes narrow. It's the expression she makes whenever I hide something in front of her.
"I-I'm really fine, okay? Yeah?"
At my desperate tone, Soi let out a light sigh.
"Alright, alright. If Lua says so, I can't help it."
Only after hearing that answer could I finally feel relieved.
*
*
*
Once something starts bothering you, it's hard to stop paying attention to it.
It was also because of Soi's personality. Since she was young, if she got hooked on something, she would keep trying to find out about it until she knew the reason.
Of course, when it came to Lua, the story was a little different.
Soi likes Lua. Because she is a precious younger sister. As an older sister, she wanted to do everything she could for Lua.
But Lua doesn't easily speak her mind.
She doesn't spill everything in her head, and if she has worries, she just struggles alone.
Even though Soi was curious about those thoughts.
Even though Lua follows everything Soi says, for some reason, she didn't think Lua would like it if she tried to dig deeper into that.
Because she likes her so much, she doesn't want to drift apart. She didn't want Lua to distance herself from Soi just because of a few wrong words.
"...Hmm."
But, still.
What bothers you, bothers you.
After becoming a middle schooler, especially at school, Lua doesn't talk to Soi first.
She even worried if maybe she had come to dislike her. Looking back, she used to suggest doing this and that to Lua, and would execute it before Lua even said okay.
Because the usual Lua accepted Soi's words and actions as if it were the most natural thing.
She wondered if she had started taking it too much for granted.
She kept getting worried, so she tried to get closer to Lua for no reason, tried to make friends for her, and the more she did that, the more the result was that Lua became quieter.
In the midst of that, those are the kids Lua talked to first.
It's difficult to follow Chaeyi's method now. Surely Lua and her parents would worry. Then what about those kids? Maybe they know the reason why Lua talked to them first.
Lunchtime.
"Ah, wait a second. I forgot something."
As usual, while heading to Chaeyi's classroom with Lua, Soi quickly said that.
Just in case, she had actually left her smartphone in the classroom.
Her friends had already gathered in twos and threes and headed to the cafeteria, and those who hadn't were right here next to her.
"I'll just go get my phone, so go ahead and wait for me!"
"I'll save you a seat!"
One of her friends said that and waved her hand.
Lua looked a little worried, but soon nodded as if she had made up her mind.
Anyway, it wasn't that far to Chaeyi's classroom.
Soi quickly moved her feet and returned to the classroom.
And—
"As expected, they're here."
The two kids Lua talked to in the morning were still in their seats.
She generally knows the movements of her classmates.
It's not for any big reason, but because Soi had always been friendly with all her classmates evenly since elementary school.
In this class too, she had exchanged a word or two with other kids at the beginning of the semester, and she could generally grasp how the kids behaved.
These two used to move to eat only after all the other kids had left the classroom.
She won't talk to them abruptly. Because Lua asked her not to. Let's talk after looking for a better opportunity.
She slowed her pace and went to her seat, and only then did the duo start to move.
Having confirmed that the two were leaving the classroom, Soi took out her smartphone from her desk and followed behind the two.
*
"Hey."
In the hallway, which was empty because it was lunchtime, Soi quickly approached the two and spoke to them.
"Can we talk for a second?"
"...Huh?"
When Soi spoke up suddenly, the two people froze.
Why do they look so scared?
Soi tilted her head and pondered, but she didn't have time.
Because everyone is waiting.
"It won't be long, so let's go over there and talk for a moment."
It's a bit fascinating to see the two people shrinking in real-time. It looks like their height decreased by 3 centimeters in an instant?
It also reminds me a bit of Lua. Was that why I felt some empathy?
Since they were heading out of the school anyway, she quickly took them behind the building.
"P-please don't hit us."
"We'll give you money, so..."
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
Soi was shocked at the sound she heard as soon as she took them behind the school.
"Why would I hit you? Why would I extort money? We aren't even on bad terms, right? And I have plenty of money."
"You're not going to hit us?"
"You're not going to extort money?"
"Who told you that?"
At Soi's question, the two looked at each other and then shook their heads. Did they just get scared on their own?
"And why the formal speech? We're classmates."
"Uh, ah."
"Th-that."
"..."
These kids are worse than Lua.
That's right. In the first place, Lua was someone who shared a room with Soi 365 days a year.
There's no choice but to have some tolerance. Of course, Soi couldn't think that far.
"Anyway, I just called you because there's something I want to ask."
"Something you want to ask?"
"Yeah. Lua talked to you guys this morning, right? I was wondering what you talked about."
"Uh..."
"W-we didn't talk for very long..."
Even if they were a little scared at first, Soi's impression isn't originally just vicious.
She is basically pretty, and when you actually talk to her, she speaks in a friendly and soft voice.
"Then have you ever talked before that? What did you talk about then?"
"Uh, that, I think she asked about... the manga we were watching."
Usually, it wasn't easy to remember trivial things that happened at the beginning of the semester.
For the two of them, the popular kid who is always among the kids talking to them was not a trivial matter.
At that time, I felt like our personalities were similar. Seeing her wear her uniform like that, I thought she was originally from this side, so I just kept my distance.
"Manga?"
Hearing that, something flashed in Soi's head.
She felt something pass by.
That's right. Lua likes things like manga. On her days off, she often rolls around at home and watches manga on her smartphone. It's not like she's watching it constantly, but if Soi peeks over her shoulder asking what manga she's watching, she would quickly turn off the screen or switch to something else.
Soi also has intuition. If the content is somewhat embarrassing, it's understandable that she would be shy.
"Aha, manga! I see!"
Soi's face brightens.
Why didn't I think of that?
Even though I knew that Lua giggles alone while playing games in the corner of the bed, and that she watches this and that manga.
I was keeping my distance because I thought she would run away if I meddled unnecessarily while trying to be careful.
To think that was the correct answer instead.
"Hey, you know. Could you tell me the title of that manga? And do you play any games on your smartphone? If you do, let me know that too."
Seeing Soi suddenly brighten up and ask, the duo looked at each other again.
What is this situation right now?
I don't know.
But this feels a bit like the intro to a light novel.
If a conversation had taken place, wouldn't that be the kind of conversation that took place?
Why, in those stories, there's usually at least one gal who likes manga or anime.