The Best Friend of the Person I Like is Secretly Approaching Me - Chapter 22

Chapter 22

After my mom’s barrage of questions was over, we headed up to my room on the second floor.

I had tidied up not only the entrance and living room but also my room in anticipation of their visit.

…Just to be safe, I hid some slightly naughty manga, like ‘Torupani.’

Hinata knows about it though.

“Hee, so this is Seko-kun’s room. It’s quite tidy.”

“Well, I cleaned up knowing you two were coming.”

“Oh, how honest. Are you saying it’s not usually like this?”

“I figured my disguise would crumble eventually, and I’m pretty sure anyone will assume it’s not normally this neat based on my usual image.”

“Fufu, I guess so. Even if Seko-kun told me now that, ‘actually, I like to keep it tidy,’ it’d be hard to believe. There’s a higher chance you’ve been body-swapped.”

“Is your trust in me weaker than such a fantasy?”

“In a way, that’s me trusting you to some extent.”.”

“It’s all about how you say it, huh?”

Yosaki seems to be in a good mood today, talking a lot more than usual.

It’s rare for her to tease me this continuously.

…Could it be that she’s been influenced by my mom’s behavior?!

Or maybe Yosaki and my mom really have swapped bodies…

Just kidding.

Judging from her expression, she’s probably just more excited than usual.

The tension might have eased after the introductions with my mom.

“A-about me… Seko’s Mother asked if I wanted to be her daughter…hehe.”

“Mom probably wanted a daughter more than a son. I might’ve had a younger sister, but I can’t really imagine what it would be like now.”

“Oh? But you seem used to dealing with younger people.”

“What? Why do you think like that, Misa?”

“Ah, um… I just had a feeling. You know, Seko-kun, he’s surprisingly considerate, right?”

“…Hmm, well, maybe surprisingly so.”

“You two, stop with the ‘surprisingly’.”

However, that was a definite slip-up on Yosaki’s part. Hinata doesn’t know I’ve met Yosaki’s cousin, Saki-chan.

Implying she knows how I interact with younger people could expose that secret.

Sensing the danger of continuing this conversation, I subtly changed the topic.

“By the way, Hinata, you seem incredibly nervous.”

“Sh-shut up! I couldn’t help it; it was my first time in such a situation…”

“Ah, sorry. Actually, I was nervous too…”

“…Uhm, I see..”

“Fufu. I wonder why even Seko-kun was nervous too.”

“Yes? Well, you know, my mom can be a bit out of control. I was on edge, wondering what she might say next. Sorry to both of you for my mom’s behavior.”

“A-ahaha. She’s quite pushy, isn’t she?”

“Fufu. Thanks to that, I became friendly with her quickly. It might be because of her consideration, you know.”

“My mom being considerate? Don’t overestimate her. I think she just acts on her own curiosity.”

As I laugh off that ridiculous idea, Yosaki, with a serious expression, says,

“You shouldn’t underestimate your mother.”

“That’s right, Seko. You shouldn’t belittle mothers. They can see everything.”

Hinata joined in too.

What’s with this devout faith in mothers…?

They can say that because they haven’t seen her nibbling on rice crackers while watching a teen drama, exclaiming, “It’s so bittersweet!”

If anything, rice crackers are usually salty.

Anyway, I just feel like she’s only probing my love life out of sheer curiosity. No, she definitely is.

But seriously…I hope she doesn’t dig too deep.

There are too many things I don’t want her to know.

“Rento~ I brought the gifts the two gave us~”

“She’s coming to snoop around!”

” ” What? ” ”

I think this might be the last time I invite them over to my house.

***

“So, what do we do now?”

After my mom left the room, I asked again about our plans for today.

“I haven’t really thought about anything, but how about this? Since we’re here, maybe we can look through Seko-kun’s graduation album?”

“That’s a good idea! Let’s see it!”

“I don’t mind, but I don’t think it’s fun.”

“That’s for us to decide. Right, Haru?”

“Yes-yes. So, Seko, show it to us already.”

“This person is getting her spirit back once mom’s gone…Sigh, wait a sec. I’ll dig it out.”

I hadn’t looked at it since graduation, so I rummage through my bookshelf, trying to remember where I put it.

I find it stashed away on the bottom shelf that I rarely use, dust it off a bit, and return to the two of them.

“I brought the kindergarten album and the elementary school graduation album.”

“Thanks. You didn’t bring the one from junior high school?”

“Well, Yosaki has the junior high school one too.”

“I don’t have it, though.”

“…I’ll show you later.”

“Hehe, you better. Now then, I wonder what little Seko-kun looked like back then—Ehh?!”

“Wait, what happened Haru? Making such a noise—Wow!”

I keep my distance as the two of them exclaim in surprise while looking through the kindergarten album,

Taken aback by their sudden outbursts, I stepped back.

“What’s gotten into you two?”

“I-it’s this! Look at this little miniaturized version of Seko! You were way too cute back then!”

“This is… fuuh. It’s like the shock I felt when I first met Saki years ago.”

“Who’s Saki?”

“My cousin and younger sister. She was this tiny once and was incredibly adorable. Of course, she’s still cute now.”

“Well, everyone goes through this phase.”

The appearance from when we were young with pure eyes and innocent expressions tends to feel adorable to us when we reach our age.

I understand that, but having it pointed out to me is really embarrassing.

“Seko, you’re in quite a lot of the pictures.”

“Oh, it’s true. Almost every photo has Seko-kun in it.”

“My kindergarten wasn’t that big, so naturally, I’d be in many of them.”

After enjoying my kindergarten days pictures, the two then moved on to my elementary school graduation album.

“You’ve grown quite a bit. That innocent-faced little Seko-kun is gone…”

“Looking at it this way, there’s quite a big difference between a kindergartener and an elementary student.”

“Is it about time I make a retort to being called ‘little Seko-kun’?” (TN: They’re using shota Seko.)

“Oh, your school trip was to places like Osaka and Kyoto? I went to Kyushu.”

“I went to Okinawa. It’s interesting how it varies by school even if it’s close by.”

“Can you not ignore me?”

I feel a bit sad that they’re so engrossed in my graduation album!

Just kidding. I get that someone else’s album can be surprisingly interesting, so I’ll just sit back quietly.

The two of them turn page after page, pausing every now and then.

Then they suddenly stop at a certain page, as I watch the two of them thinking they’ll eventually finish the album,

To be precise, they freeze looking at a certain photo.

I was about to ask what was wrong when they suddenly turned to look at me, their eyes dark and heavy.

“Seko, who is this girl?”

“Seko-kun, who is she?”

Feeling an odd pressure from the two, I look at the picture in question.

It’s a group photo with students from first to sixth grade, three from each grade, and I was in it.

Beside me, or rather, clinging to my arm and hiding her face, was a slightly chubby girl.

At the elementary school I attended, there was a cross-grade interaction system. This photo was likely taken with that group.

This was when I was in sixth grade… Uh, this girl is..

“Oh, I remember. I think there was a girl who used to be very close to me. I don’t remember her face or name anymore, but I do recall feeling like I had a little sister.”

“Hmm. You don’t remember her? So you’re not in touch or anything?”

“Of course not. We only interacted during school events.”

“I see. She was your first ‘little sister’ then.”

“What do you mean by that?!”

Well, I guess Saki-chan is like a little sister to me too..

Seeing Yosaki clearly dissatisfied that Saki-chan isn’t my first ‘little sister(?),’ makes me begin to think there might be more of potential landmines in this album that I’m unaware of.

At this rate, I’d like to wrap up this album viewing session as soon as possible.

Then, without a knock, the door to my room opened.

Of course, the only person who enters so thoughtlessly is my mother.

“Do you want to see an old family photo album?”

“Thank you very much, Mother!”

“We’ll look, we’ll look!”

Mom, could you please stop adding fuel to the fire?

Please stop! Your son will die!