My Childhood Friend Seems to be the Main Heroine. - Chapter 8

“Ah〜〜. I’m so tired〜.”

　Around noon, the sun was shining and the temperature was rising.

　A boy was sitting on a bench at a station with his legs stretched out.

　His name is Minazuki Saito.

　He is usually an active and fresh boy with black hair in two-block-styled hair, but now he looks like a working person on his way home from work.

　On the other hand, a beautiful blonde girl sits next to him, smiling and looking at her phone in a good mood.

　Her name is Machigane Riri.

　She is Saito’s childhood friend and part of the reason he is in a state of exhaustion.

“You’re such a slacker, Saito. Do you really train your muscles every day? “

　She is still trying to make him feel miserable by saying he gets tired just by doing this much.

　Does she have no sense of guilt?

　If you ask him if she does or not, she definitely does not.

　Because she takes pictures over and over, repeatedly.

　No one would think that just taking pictures would cause exhaustion.

　But that is a normal situation.

　The one he just did was not a photo session to commemorate an acquaintance or their daughter’s entrance to the school but a modeling session.

　As is her profession, Lucy, a photographer, and Riri’s mother, ordered every expression, pose, and angle.

　It is difficult for Saito, who is not a model, to follow them faithfully, and even his daughter, Riri, is asking him to do so as well, which is quite a challenge for him.

　To top it all off, Saito and Riri were in a two-shot situation, with their arms around each other, and when she hugged him from behind, her chest pressed him, which made it very difficult for him to concentrate.

　Still, Saito’s mental strength to act as if nothing had happened is commendable.

“Mental fatigue has nothing to do with muscle training.”

“That’s for sure. Ah, but here, look. Don’t I look so cute? Isn’t this a good shot?”

“That’s true.”

“Muu〜. As expected, your response to a quirky, cute childhood friend is too perfunctory.”

“I can’t help it. I’m tired.”

　While he was waiting for the train, dealing with Riri’s complaint, a boy wearing the same uniform as Saito’s approached them.

“Finally…I found you. Riri. I’ve wanted to meet you for a long time.”

　Saying that the delicate boy whose hair reached his eyes made blurred his eyes.

　Judging from his reaction, he must be an acquaintance of Riri.

　Moreover, he seems to be a good friend of Riri since he calls her by her first name in a friendly manner.

　She said that the only person she went to junior high school with was the guy who picked up her this morning, so it must be a friend from elementary school or something.

(Huh? Riri, as far as I remember, didn’t she say she has no male friends? )

　I think Riri said something like that when she was in elementary school, but it was almost five years ago.

　My memory may be a little hazy, or she made a new friend after they talked about it.

　It would not be good to interrupt this emotional reunion by saying unnecessary things.

　It would be safe to keep quiet and let it pass.

　Saito decided to keep quiet so as not to disturb them.

　He takes his phone out of his pocket and starts up the game app.

“…Who are you? You. Please don’t call me by my first name when we’ve never met.”

” ” Huh? ” “

[ Yu-Gi-Oh! DUEL LINKS. ] (sfx)

　The two boys freeze at Riri’s unexpected reaction.

　And then the sound of a game starting up on his phone.

　The place is in a state of confusion, and Saito turns off the loud game for the time being.

“A-Ah, that, it’s me, Nishizono Haruki. It’s Riri’s… uh, I see. Freshman year of high school, we were still─────.”

　Then, Mr. Bang’s hair, talking to her, tried to say something more to Riri, but he must have noticed something in the middle of his speech. He started mumbling.

While he was mumbling, he asked Riri, who was standing next to him, “Are you sure you don’t know him?” She replied, “I don’t know… that guy,” with a hint of disgust in her voice.

“Hmmm…”

　Saito asked about Mr. Bang’s Hair while giving her some appropriate responses.

　He is still mumbling something, which is frankly a bit creepy.

　Could he be Riri’s stalker?

　If so, it’s not a good idea to be here.

　A wild hunch in Saito’s mind starts to sound the alarm that the boy is troublesome. Saito mutters in a low voice,

“Hey, why don’t we get out of here? He’s definitely a dangerous guy.”

“…pfft. Huhu, that’s true. He looks like a bad guy, isn’t he? Umm, I agree. Let’s run away. “

　Riri gives a small smile and gets up from the bench.

“Ah, wait a moment! I have something more to say!? “

　As they passed by Mr. Bang’s Hair, he must have finally noticed Saito and Riri were trying to run away.

　He rushes to stop them, but they are already at the top of the stairs.

　Just as they were about to disappear into the back of the station, Riri turned to Mr. Bang’s Hair and stuck out her tongue.

　At that moment, Mr. Bang’s Hair, who was about to chase after them, stops and stands in a daze.