Ranobe Mo Ore Mo Sukina Gyaru - Volume 1 Chapter 5.2

Gal and Light Novel 2

Then, Tsumakawa, whom I thought I had said goodbye to, followed me.

Looking at her with a slightly puzzled expression, she seemed angry and said

“Don’t you realize I came to Animate because I also want to buy light novels? Ah?”

“…Don’t so plainly pissed off. I admit the way I phrased it earlier might have come off as dismissive toward Tsumakawa-san… Sorry…”

“If you make me too angry, I’ll hit you with the corner of the dictionary, okay?”

“Hey, cut it out! It would hurt if you hit me with a corner of a dictionary!”

As I said the usual, with my knees trembling in fear, Tsumakawa immediately responded with a bright smile, saying, ‘Alright, but don’t you dare to treat me like that!’

Surprisingly, she seemed to be a gal with good understanding.

And so, following the flow of the conversation, I ended up checking out new light novels together with Tsumakawa.

First, I picked up around three new releases I definitely wanted to buy due to the continuation of a series I liked and summaries that piqued my interest.

Then, there was one more that caught my attention due to the author’s name, so I grabbed that too.

Then, for some reason, Tsumakawa raised her voice a notch and started talking to me.

“Oh, so you’re interested in that one? Customer-san, your eye for detail is quite impressive, huh?”

“Your sudden sales talk is annoying…”

“I read the previous work by this author, ‘Good Night, Zarathustra,’ and it was so good! By the way, Nezumayo, you’ve read it too, right?”

“I have, and it was amazing. I really loved it. I cried like crazy.”

“Right! That’s what I’m saying! It’s like a burst of excitement, a fireworks display, bang-bang, and it’s like a treasure, right?! My excitement goes through the roof!”

“Your wording is a bit too ‘gyaru’ for me to understand, but… yeah! My excitement goes through the roof!”

“Huh? What are you talking about? I don’t know what you mean.”

“You said it first!”

Suddenly having the rug pulled out from under me, I couldn’t help but retort.

This gal, is she not taking responsibility for her own statements?

Then, Tsumakawa suddenly said, ‘Just wait a moment!’ and left with those words.

Not even a minute later, she returned, showing me the cover of a light novel she had brought from somewhere, and continued:.

“Look! ‘Good Night, Zarathustra!'”

“Oh, yeah, that’s right… Both Tsumakawa-san and I already have that book. I don’t really get why you brought a book we already own from the store’s shelves…”

“Just because!”

“Just because, huh? I see…”

She was like an innocent child. It’s a completely meaningless act to go to the bookstore’s shelves to find a book that we already have just to talk about a favorite light novel… but it’s kind of her style to put that into action.

After that, Tsumakawa smiled at the cover of the light novel and continued with a lively voice.

“The scene where Shizuka rejects Yuta’s confession for the sake of her best friend Serina… Isn’t that scene just insane!?”

“Oh, that scene was intense…”

“Exactly!! That scene is seriously all vibes… Shizuka’s the only one who wins, after all…”

“Well, in reality, Shizuka is the losing heroine… but…”

“The losing heroine is the real winner!”

“Don’t create strange phrases. Is that losing or winning? Which one is it?”

“She lost, but she won, right? In fact, she won because she lost! That’s the thing!”

With those mysterious words, Tsumakawa looked at me with sparkling eyes and a genuinely joyful expression, she continued, as if her overflowing emotions couldn’t be contained any longer.

“Nezumayo-kun, did you notice? In that scene, when Yuta praises her ‘cute’ hairpin, Shizuka is actually secretly wearing it! Probably, that hairpin represents Shizuka’s genuine feelings, right? She still likes him! Even though she says, ‘I’m not in love anymore’ and ‘I can move on from a failed romance,’ words can be deceiving, right? So surely, her wearing that hairpin signifies her genuine feelings! Shizuka’s unfeigned emotions!”

“Yeah, that’s right…”

“Surely, her emotions are just as strong as Yuta’s! She wants her best friend to be happy, and she wants to be with Yuta! Even so, because she’s kind… Shizuka couldn’t choose to hurt her best friend. So she chose to hurt herself and turned down the confession… I mean, it’s so sad! This light novel is the best! It’s all about the birth of love!”

“That’s true. Even though some mysterious words came up, the emotions are mostly agreeable.”

“And hey, hey! Even the part where Shizuka starts crying is so powerful! When she cries, it’s not before she turns down the confession or after she does… it’s right after she says ‘I’m sorry, I can’t date you!’ It’s like at that very moment, just like how lemon tea overflows from a cup that’s been poured too full, her emotions burst out! Isn’t that so real? At that moment, Shizuka realizes, ‘Ah, I can’t date Yuta…’ She’s aware of it! Is she a literary goddess? Or is it Nishino-sensei who wrote Shizuka that’s the literary goddess? I was also overflowing with tears over here! I thought I’d get dehydrated!”

“Pffft… ahaha…”

“Uhm, why are you laughing? I’m really speaking seriously.”

“N-no, well, sorry… It’s just, you know… I kind of think Minacho-san’s reactions are really nice, and I like it.”

“Huh…”

Taken aback by my statement, Tsumakawa froze for a moment.

Wait, did I just say something creepy…!?

Thinking that, I quickly piled on more words to ensure my feelings were accurately conveyed to her.

“I-I mean, I don’t exactly mean ‘like’… more like, my preference? Minacho-san, or rather, Tsumakawa-san, always expresses her favorite parts of her favorite works, explaining how she likes them and the way her emotions flow, right? I really, really like that…”

“O-Oh, I see…?”

“Seriously, even though you’re a gal, your light novel impressions are amazingly radiant…”

” ‘Even though you’re a gal’, huh? Did you really need that one phrase?”

In response to Tsumakawa’s comment, I found myself almost laughing again as I stared at her.

To be honest, I still found Tsumakawa a bit difficult to deal with. But seeing her like this, I felt a slight sense of relief.

Ah, that’s right, she’s Minacho after all.

Naturally, Tsumakawa and I are quite different in many ways, but when it comes to discussing favorite light novels, she speaks so passionately and quickly that I can’t even interject.

She loves light novels, and in that regard, she’s actually not that different from me – a fellow light novel enthusiast.

Honestly, I think she’s a bit eccentric… She’s an extrovert, yet she doesn’t look down on otaku.

She’s a gal, yet she loves reading light novels. Maybe she’s a gal like a tai-polar chart, having both yin and yang elements.

What kind of gal is that? Ultimately, she might not be a full-fledged gal with a 100% gal level.

Thinking that way, labeling Tsumakawa-san, a gal who loves light novels, as a ‘Gal I find difficult to deal with’ might have been a bit off.

As I pondered these thoughts while looking at Tsumakawa, she suddenly blushed for some reason and said, ‘Hey, stop staring at me,’ before turning her face away.

…???

Why is she reacting with such embarrassment? Getting compliments like this is probably an everyday occurrence for Tsumakawa-san.

Lost in my thoughts, she started playing with the brown tips of her hair