Ranobe Mo Ore Mo Sukina Gyaru - Volume 1 Chapter 12.3

Gal and Sleepless Night 3

“I asked Yoda for help, and he helped me out. You get permission from the family, and you said you’ll let me stay… S-Sorry. This whole thing wasn’t my intention… um, I’ll ask Kanachamu next time.”

——Despite having many friends who would answer her call for help…

Not just Horido and Kanachiyamu. Good classmates, club members, gal pals she worked with at the same magazine… Unlike me, who had few friends, she had countless options.

However, on the night when she wanted to rely on someone, she chose to rely on me.

…Have I ever been someone that others depended on despite having so many options?

I’ve been relied on by my older sister. But that’s because we’re family.

I’ve been relied on by male friends. But those were requests like ‘Can you lend me 500 yen?’ that anyone could fulfill; it wasn’t a real favor asked of me.

I probably haven’t experienced someone relying on me like this before.

So, this feeling of guilt that is spreading in my heart now is not a feeling of not meeting Tsumakawa’s expectations——It’s an ambition, embarrassingly strong, to respond and meet her expectations.

With this realization about myself, a clear outline of the place I want to reach has become visible.

I used to think this feeling was presumptuous, so I couldn’t put it into words, but now those unspoken feelings are bubbling up in my chest.

I’m not yet a person who could become Tsumakawa-san’s friend in the truest sense.

——But I want to become someone who could eventually be her friend.

It might not be a dream that someone like me, with my personality, should have.

Yet, despite knowing I can’t meet Tsumakawa-san’s expectations, I still want to strive to be someone who can. Even if I can’t respond to her hopes, I still want to try.

After a moment of silence, I say words that, a little while ago, I would have been too embarrassed to utter,

“While I might not have any answers for the troubles Tsumakawa-san is facing… if talking about your complaints a little can make you feel even a bit better, then I’m more than willing to listen…”

“…Yoda, are you being kind right now? I wonder, if I keep asking, would you maybe sleep with me? Hey, how about we sleep together here?”

“I won’t do that.”

“Oh, is that so… hehe. But seriously, this makes me happy. You’re willing to listen to my rant?”

“Yeah… That’s pretty much all I can do in my current state… Since that’s all I can do, I thought I could at least listen to your story, Tsumakawa-san.”

“…Hey, could I hold your pinky?”

“You can’t do that.”

“You’re too stingy…”

After Tsumakawa said that, she rolled onto the futon and lay down.

In response, I got up once and then sat outside the futon again.

While lying on her back, she asked me to hold out my left hand, saying, ‘Give me your left hand.’

So, I extended my left hand, and she tightly grasped the cuff of my pajama’s left sleeve.

While doing so, with her cheeks reddening from embarrassment, she said,

“Holding the sleeve is okay, right?”

” …Well, yes, indeed… it’s okay, although it’s truly regrettable… “

“Are you a politician?”

After that retort, Tsumakawa smiled happily.

Her smile was still different from the usual smile she showed me—definitely not a forced one—It was a smile that let me realize that Tsumakawa-san had become just a little bit more spirited.

“Well, then, let me complain again, just a little bit…”

***

Time passed, and it’s four hours later.

Wait, four hours!?

“——Anyway, I really admire Kanachamu, you know? Her sense of fashion and nails are off the charts. But if only she could develop a good sense of judging men, she’d be perfect. That’s the only thing that’s lacking in her. …Her recent boyfriend? Super sketchy. Turns out, aside from Kanachamu, he’s been with another girl for eight years! When I asked if that girl was his main girl and Kanachamu was the side chick, she’s like, ‘No, I was totally loved. I was the main one.’ She’s too stubborn in weird ways! Apparently, they broke up because they didn’t share hobbies, but isn’t that something you check at the beginning!? Anyway, lately, Kanachiyamu has been saying things like——’I’m tired of handsome guys, maybe I’ll go for a plain-looking guy next.’ And then she was like, ‘Can you introduce me to someone like Yoda?’ I got super mad and told her I’d never introduce her. Yoda, be careful with strange women, okay?”

” ….. “

“Hey, Yoda? Are you awake?”

“Huh? Ah, yeah… Yeah, I’m awake…”

“Good. Well then, continuing with the story—”

” ….. “

Are you going to continue this stupid story?

I truly thought that, but I couldn’t put it into words.

…Repeating myself, since my declaration to ‘listen to Tsumakawa-san’s complaints as much as she wants,’ four hours had passed.

The current time was 6:30 in the morning… and I was still being subjected to Tsumakawa-san’s empty chatter.

To be precise, her grumbling about her issues with Tsumakawa Papa ended within the first hour.

Despite that, Tsumakawa-san, without even sleeping, kept droning on with unrelated stories until now… I had intended to listen to her story until she felt satisfied since I couldn’t be of much help to her, but I’m sorry. I’m really starting to feel sleepy!

As I was drowsily tuning out her incessant talk that seemed like the endless chanting of the Heart Sutra, Tsumakawa, rubbing her sleepy eyes, finally said something.

” …In other words, Kanachamu is my best friend… So, well, how do I put this… I want you to meet her someday, Yoda… But Kanachamu is a really attractive girl, so if Yoda falls for her just because she’s an attractive girl… I’d be upset… You know, those kinds of feelings… Ugh, I’m… sleepy… Hey, Yoda… can I sleep…?”

” No need to ask for permission for that…”

“Huh? Okay, I’ll sleep—…zzZ”

“That speed of falling asleep, are you Nobita-kun or something…?”

I said that while pushing my eyelids that were nearly closed due to fatigue and confirmed Tsumakawa’s state.

She was sleeping soundly, like a baby who has been crying.

Oh, she finally fell asleep… I wonder if mothers who put their babies to sleep in the early morning feel like this…

Anyway, even if I didn’t know if she had recovered her energy, I was finally freed from Miona Tsumakawa’s endless talk live session.

I got up from that spot, intending to head back to my room, but then I noticed something.

“Zzz… Zzz…”

As she made adorable sleeping sounds, her right hand was still tightly holding the cuff of my pajama’s sleeve…OMG!

Of course, I could shake off her hand and retreat to my room.

However, I found myself contemplating whether it was okay to remove her hand that was holding my sleeve so tightly.

If Tsumakawa-san woke up and I wasn’t here, what would she think…?

『I’m really sorry. But… can you still stay with me for a bit longer?』

Of course, I had no intention of sleeping next to her.

But since I had once agreed to Tsumakawa-san’s request, even though I felt this way, should I continue staying by her side after she fell asleep like this?

However, that might seem presumptuous since I’m neither Tsumakawa-san’s boyfriend nor even a friend…

While struggling with such thoughts, I gazed at her, who was making sleeping sounds. ‘Mm, Yoda…’ I was suddenly called by my name, making me startle.

Tsumakawa-san, in her uncharacteristically absent expression, continued to sleep as if tormented by a nightmare.

” …Sigh…”

Seeing Tsumakawa-san’s face, I let out a small sigh and then sat back down.

This might also be hypocritical, but… it’s not because I want to be by her side.

Because her hand still held onto my pajama’s cuff, preventing me from returning to my room, I became unable to move.

Eventually, I let out a big yawn and rolled over to the side—right next to her sleeping futon on the tatami.

“…Forgive me. My pride as a stubborn otaku…”

Normally, the otaku code within me wouldn’t allow me to sleep in the same room as Tsumakawa-san. But desperate times call for desperate measures…or something like that…

After 6:30 in the morning and being extremely tired, I patted myself on the back for managing to stay awake up to this point and sprawled out next to Tsumakawa-san.

Listening to someone speak continuously might be more tiring than I thought…

Four hours earlier, I was tossing and turning in my room, unable to sleep due to the scent of Tsumakawa-san’s perfume.

But now, next to her, I closed my eyes as if I were dead—and without dreaming, I fell into a deep sleep.