My Childhood Friend Seems to be the Main Heroine. - Chapter 31

　The Golden Week holiday, which was more intense than originally planned, is over, and a gloomy Monday has arrived.

　He forces himself to move his body, which still wants to take a rest and get on the train.

　As usual, he gets off the train at Riri’s usual station and meets up with her.

“Good morning, Riri.”

“Good morning, Saito. Oh, I’ll give you a souvenir before I forget.”

　As soon as they met, Riri handed him a paper bag in one hand.

“Wow, really? Thank you. What did you get me? “

　Saito, who had not expected to receive a gift this morning, accepted it and asked what was in it.

“Jagarico Takoyaki Flavor and Mozuya Strap. Saito, didn’t you like snacks like Jagariko? “

　Riri bought a takoyaki-flavored snack that seemed to be an Osaka specialty and a strap with a Yuru-kyara character.

　A good choice.

　Saito decided to eat them as soon as he got home later.

　However, his brain immediately wondered [Maybe we could eat a bit right now as a snack?]. The devil was whispering in his brain.

　Riri, perhaps hearing the whispering of the devil, nudges Saito, [Make sure you leave one for Yabane and Yo, too, okay?].

“I-I know. I’m not going to act like a little kid.”

“Who ate all the caramels I brought back from the market in the past? “

　He countered that he wouldn’t be so insane as to eat all of them, but there was nothing he could do if she pointed out that he had eaten all of the gifts Riri had bought for him in the past.

“…I was just a kid at that time.”

“Geez, you were already nine years old then.”

　Saito weakly made excuses, and Riri giggled.

“What did Saito do after playing with me? “

“After two lazy days, I went to karaoke with my friends from junior high school, and the next day I went to see a movie by myself.”

“Heh〜, that’s pretty fulfilling. As for me──”

　The topic of conversation changed to what they had been doing during the Golden Week holidays, and Riri, who had been to many places in Osaka, seemed to have a lot to tell him about the many things that had happened.

　Saito was on his way to the high school while he was listening to the conversation.

* * *

　Although the holidays are over, there is no reason for our life to change so much.

　Saito thought so, but contrary to his expectation, there was a big change.

“Hello, Minazuki-kun!”

“You are from the last time? How did you know I’m here? “

　To his surprise, Shirayuri, the girl with long black hair whom Saito saved from a pick-up guy last time, came to Saito’s class during lunch break.

　The class was shaken up by this.

“What does Shirayuri Koyuki, a young lady of a conglomerate who is rumored to be the most beautiful girl in the first grade, want with Minazuki? “

“What, did they get together during this Golden Week? “

　She continued the conversation, not caring about the people around her who were panicking.

“Fufu, I have a little confidence in my memory. I saw the same name on the class list as the one you gave me, so I thought I’d come here and see if I was right.”

“That’s amazing.”

　Since Nishizono knew her name, he had a little hunch that she probably went to the same high school.

　But he was surprised to know that it was really the same.

　It seems that the world is smaller than he thought.

　But more than that, he was surprised that she came to Saito so soon just because she recognized the name that he had given her.

　He was really surprised.

“fufu, I am honored by your compliment.”

“Compliments are a bit of an exaggeration. So, what’s going on? You came to me out of the blue. You thanked me for the other day, then we have nothing more to talk about.”

“No, it’s because I’m the daughter of the Shirayuri Zaibatsu. It’s bad for our good name to thank you just like that for saving my life when I was in danger. That’s why I came here to thank Minazuki-kun again.”

“Hmmm. You’re troublesome, aren’t you?”

(tn: Zaibatsu, a Japanese term referring to industrial and financial vertically integrated business conglomerates.)

　He thinks it’s enough just to thank him with words for rescuing her from a pick-up, but it seems that a daughter of a conglomerate can’t say so.

　It seemed suffocating to have to worry about that kind of thing every time, and he thought it was impossible for him to live like that.

“So, I want to thank Minazuki-kun, what do you want me to do? Should I give you the answer sheet for the test the week after the next? “

“That’s cheating. I’m afraid I’ll be expelled if I get caught, so no thanks. Uh, I mean, seriously, there’s nothing I want you to do or give right now…”

　He saved Shirayuri on a whim, without any calculation of how he wanted to be rewarded.

　It was something Saito wanted to do.

　It was enough that she thanked him for his help, so to speak, for his own self-satisfaction.

　It is hard to think of something he wanted when he was suddenly asked to request a reward.

“Is it possible to put it on hold? “

　So he asked her if she could wait until he could think of something he wanted.

“No problem, I can wait.”

　Then, surprisingly, she said she would wait.

　Then, let’s put it on hold until I can come up with something, he thought.

“Okay, I’ll come to you when I have something in mind. I’ll let you know later.”

“All right.”

” ….. “

” ….. “

“….Why are you still here? “

　──I’ll come to you when I have something in mind.

　That’s the end of the conversation.

　He thought she had nothing more to talk about and was going to leave, but for some reason, Shirayuri didn’t leave.

　Or rather, she does not even move in front of Saito.

　What is happening? A question mark appears in his head.

“Well, you see. Uh, I am ashamed to say that I have very few friends. I was wondering if you could be my friend?”

“Ahh, I don’t mind if it’s only that.”

　There’s no problem if she wants to be his friend.

　Shirayuri doesn’t seem to be a bad person from what he has talked to her, and I don’t dislike her.

　However, he was a little surprised to hear such a thing out of the blue.

“Really?! Thank you very much.”

　As soon as Saito agreed, Shirayuri’s face lit up.

“Umm, I was wondering if you would like to go to the cafeteria together right now? I’ve always wanted to go there with my friend when I have it.”

“Sorry. I’m broke and don’t have money for the cafeteria.”

　He is sorry to reject her even though she’s so happy to have her first friend, but unfortunately, Saito spent most of his allowance during the Golden Week holidays and his wallet is empty right now.

　He can’t afford to eat at the cafeteria.

　Saito apologized to Shirayuri with an apologetic tone in his voice.

“Oh, that’s unfortunate. If that’s the case, how about this? I’ll buy you something.”

“You can’t do that to someone you’ve been friends with for less than a minute. Besides, I have my lunchbox, and I have an appointment today. I’m sorry, I can’t go with you today, I’ll let you know later when we can eat together.”

“Okay, I understand. Then, I’ll leave first.”

“Yes. I’ll try to decide as soon as I can.”

“See you later.”

“Yes, see you.”

　He felt sorry for refusing her for so many reasons, but he asked Shirayuri to go back to her class for today.

　The classroom was quiet after Shirayuri was gone.

　Saito stood up, turned around, and said

“Riri, let’s have lunch.”

　As he had promised in the morning, Saito invites Riri to lunch.

“Yeah, sure. Saito, when did you meet that girl? “

　Riri nodded with a very nice smile and asked about Shirayuri.

“Golden week. I went to karaoke with my friends and helped her out when she was being picked up. Well, I guess what I did was an unnecessary intervention since there was a guy who was defending Shirayuri before me.”

“…I see.”

　When Riri heard how he met Shirayuri, she looked mysterious, closed her eyes, and started to think.

“Hamburgers are always so good!”

　With Riri by his side, Saito was tucking into his bento again today.