Ranobe Mo Ore Mo Sukina Gyaru - Volume 1 Chapter 9.1

Gal and Preferred Type 1

The morning after I went to McDonald’s with Tsumakawa. In the classroom before homeroom.

” …… “

I slumped at my desk, alone in my thoughts, and screamed in my head, ‘Nooooooo!’

I messed up, I messed up, I messed up, I messed up, I messed up, I messed up—

To tell the truth, at the time of yesterday, I didn’t regret my actions much. There were no lies in the words I spoke to her…

Besides, I thought I could talk about that kind of stuff with her, while properly hiding ‘true feelings that I shouldn’t have said’ within me.

However, after a night had passed since then, when I thought back to yesterday’s events——

『It’s not about others. It’s because I haven’t accepted myself. As long as I think that way, I’ll probably never become Tsumakawa-san’s friend…』

Ahhhhh, it’s so creepy! This guy even said things he shouldn’t say to Tsumakawa-san!

——Someone gives me a time machine! If I could go back in time, I’d beat up my past self and prevent him from saying embarrassing things to Tsumakawa-san!

But regrets come too late… Since I didn’t have a Doraemon-like friend, all I could do was move forward in time like this—just the usual routine of going to school.

Why can’t we take days off when we want to? Is school some kind of black company?

Thinking about such things, I was napping at my desk, and suddenly—my left shoulder was lightly tapped.

So, reluctantly raising my face, I found… the dazzling her standing there, offering a gal peace sign in my direction.

“Yay! Good Morning, Yoda — Gal Peace Feat Early Morning!”

“Is that the right way to use the word feat? … G-Good morning, Tsumakawa-san…”

“What’s wrong? You seem less energetic than usual. Maybe you’re embarrassed because of what happened yesterday??”

” ….. “

“Hit the mark, huh? Well, what you said yesterday was… well, it was kind of embarrassing. I mean, you were saying some pretty ridiculous stuff yesterday, Nezumayo! It’s like there’s a part of Nezumayo inside Yoda that just exploded and couldn’t be stopped! Ahaha, it’s funny!”

” ……… “

“…Ah, sorry. I thought teasing you would turn it into a funny story, but judging by your expression, it doesn’t seem like you find it funny?—But you know, you don’t really need to worry about it. Sure, Yoda was pretty down yesterday, but everyone has moments when they feel that way, right? It’s precisely in those times that you need someone to lean on — in the case of yesterday’s Yoda, it was me. Since you were able to do that just fine yesterday, you don’t need to reflect on how you felt yesterday when you were feeling down!”!”

…Perhaps Tsumakawa-san isn’t very good at comforting people?

While understanding that she was genuinely concerned about me, I couldn’t help but think that way.

In cases like this, she should have comforted me while hiding the part about yesterday’s ‘Yoda being down yesterday’, right?

As I was pondering this, Tsumakawa continued to smile and said.

“Anyway, since we talked about yesterday, can I try something?”

“Hmm? Try something? Try what?”

“Hey, Yoda. How about you go home with me today?”

” ………. “

When Tsumakawa said this with a mischievous expression, what flashed back in my mind was something I said yesterday—

『Actively being with Tsumakawa-san from my side might still be beyond me… but from now on. I won’t use the excuse that real-life girls suck to reject being with you anymore…』

Although I had somewhat declared this, I still found myself looking for reasons not to go home with Tsumakawa-san…

However, I realized that all the excuses I quickly came up with were just forced reasons to decline her invitation!

So, when Tsumakawa suggested, ‘How about you go home with me today?’ I reluctantly nodded.

“…Ah, okay.”

“Really!? As expected, you’re being honest just like you promised! Good job, good job!”

“Seriously… Don’t rub someone’s head like he’s a dog! This is the classroom!”

“Hehe, what if we weren’t in the classroom? Well, later—when we’re not in the classroom, could we be alone and do lots of head patting?”

“T-t-that’s not what I meant!?”

While Tsumakawa playfully rubbed my head, I retorted.

Lately, her physical affection had been quite intense…

Could it be that she’s mistaken me for a frequent visitor to cabaret clubs or something? No matter how much she touched me, did she think I could stay with a glass of water for hours?

*****

And then, time passed, and it was after school.

Just as we had agreed this morning, I was walking with Tsumakawa-san to the nearest station from our high school.

I commute to school by bicycle and Tsumakawa commutes by train. Since we would part ways at the school’s nearest station, I didn’t really see much point in walking home together.

As I was thinking about this, Tsumakawa suddenly pointed to a park slightly off the path we usually took and suggested,

“Hey, let’s stop by there for a bit.”

“…I guess that’s fine, but Tsumakawa-san, don’t you have work today?”

“I still have about an hour left, so it’s fine. Let’s go!”

With just those words, she walked into the park without waiting for me.

It was a fairly large park with lush green lawns spread across a wide area, a place frequented by local children and the elderly, serving as a recreational spot.

In a corner of the park, there was a roofed bench, and that’s where Tsumakawa headed.

She sat down there, then patted the seat beside her with her left hand and smiled.

So, after parking my bike near the bench… I sat down, making sure to keep a space of about one person’s width between me and the place where she was sitting.

” …..”

Then, without a word, she moved closer to me, readjusting her position so that our shoulders were snugly pressed together.

Her soft thigh slightly against mine, her delicate arm slightly touching my upper arm.