After a Beautiful, Yandere Onee-San Moved in Next Door, My Life Changed Drastically~ (Please Save Me...)

Chapter 18 – Christmas Eve 2

——Christmas Eve.

We waited at the clock tower in the downtown area, enduring the cold of midwinter.

“Ah…”

Hanada-san’s clothes fit her small body perfectly, and today I felt like we really were on a date.

Hanada-san, who was talking beside me and secretly holding my hand, looked at me with her usual bright smile.

Today we were wearing matching outfits that she had bought for us, but… I was still nervous, worried about people around us catching a glimpse.

“Hanada-san…”

“Huh?”

“Aren’t your legs cold? You should’ve worn pants instead of tights…”

“But that’s not cute… These tights are cuter… You like girls wearing skirts, don’t you, Nao-kun? You… you wrote about it in your novel too…”

“How did you know that?!”

“Fufu.”

…When did she read my work…?

“Anyway, I’ll wrap my scarf around you because you look cold.”

“Yes…”

“It’s almost time…”

“This is great… I can smell Nao-kun’s scent from the scarf…”

“Please don’t talk about such embarrassing things outside…”

“Ehehe…”

Suddenly, two people came into view from around the corner.

“Eru!”

“Natsuki~!”

“Nao-kun, Nao-kun! This is my university friend Kinoshita Eru! And this is…”

“Yeah. This is my boyfriend Takahashi Jin!”

“Nice to meet you… And you are…?”

University students, huh… There was a different vibe from high school students, which felt strange…

But why was I so intimidated by these two university students… Am I still not good at talking to strangers like this…? Though I tried to hide it, I was caught up in an inexplicable anxiety deep inside.

“I’m Kashiwagi Nao. Nice to meet you…”

“Wow… Kashiwagi-kun… You’re really a high school student…!”

“Y-yes…”

“So you’re Kashiwagi-kun. Nice to meet you.”

“Y-yes!”

Hanada-san smiled and patted my head, then we headed to the posh restaurant in the neighborhood where Kinoshita-san had made a reservation.

“There are a lot of people out during Christmas Eve, aren’t there?”

“Yeah, I guess so…”

“Hey, Natsuki. Kashiwagi-kun seems like he’s really nervous.”

“Really…? Nao-kun, are you nervous…?”

Hanada-san, standing close to me, smiled and linked arms with me in front of the two.

I still couldn’t say, “I’m not good at eating with strangers.”

For some reason, I felt like they were staring at me from the front, so I averted my eyes from the two of them.

“A-a little…”

“Hey, Kashiwagi-kun.”

“Yes?”

“What do you like about Natsuki?”

“Ah! Eru, that’s not fair!”

“Isn’t it exciting…? A romance with a high school student…!”

“Well…”

I glanced at Hanada-san’s profile and honestly didn’t know what to say.

More importantly, is the question of what I like about her something something that I can pinpoint? I like Hanada-san as a person, so I’ve never thought about it… Her kindness, her cuteness… and the way she’s so considerate of me… All of that is part of Hanada-san… I guess I can’t pinpoint it…

“Hmm? So what do you like about her?”

“I-I like that she has a kind heart…”

“So cute~ Natsuki is really kind, isn’t she…? I know that too~”

“Don’t say embarrassing things! Geez… both of you, stop it.”

“Maybe it’s embarrassing in front of Kashiwagi-kun…?”

This person… She’s better at teasing than Hanada-san…

While we were talking, the ordered steak arrived, and I ate quietly, trying to maintain my nervousness.

“By the way, Kashiwagi-kun, where did you meet Hanada-san? I’d like to know.”

“Eh… Where, you ask…”

I mean, she’s my neighbor, so I don’t know what to say when asked where…

One day, I just happened to help her with her luggage…and there was no way I could say that it happened to be in the apartment building we live in…

But more importantly, Kinoshita-san and Takahashi-san seemed very expectant, making the tension even worse. Please say something, Hanada-san.

“Huh——”

It doesn’t seem like Hanada-san is interested in helping me…

“You see! I confessed to Nao-kun!”

“What… Seriously?”

“Hanada-san confessed…? Directly…?”

“Yeah. That’s right! I fell in love at first sight when I first met Nao-kun!”

Hanada-san said as she fed me her steak.

For some reason, the two were surprised.

Hanada-san… I don’t know what kind of image she usually has, so I couldn’t sympathize with the surprised looks on their faces and just nodded blankly.

Natsuki stroked Nao’s head as he munched away.

“You two are so lovey-dover… I’ve never seen Natsuki make this kind of face at university. In a way, Kashiwagi-kun, you’re amazing…”

“I wonder what Hanada-san is like at university…”

“That’s too much! I’m just a normal university student too… You two are exaggerating!”

Even though I hadn’t finished eating yet, Hanada-san fed me as if to show off to the other two. It felt like a wall had been built between us and them, even though we were all eating together.

“Make sure to eat properly…”

“I’ll eat by myself…”

“Nao-kun, your cold isn’t fully healed yet, is it?”

“Even so, I can manage to eat this much on my own!”

Meanwhile, Eru, feeling envious, opened her mouth in front of Jin.

“Jin, feed me too!”

“…Seriously, okay, okay.”

“Ahnn.”

Since they were a normal couple, they naturally did things like this… Hanada-san always did this for me, and while it was really embarrassing, seeing it now seemed like just a normal expression of affection. I imagined to myself that if we were dating, it would be like this too.

“Oh, by the way, Kashiwagi-kun.”

“Yes…?”

“There’s something I want to tell you…”

“Yes. What is it?”

“It’s a bit hard to say here, so let’s go away for a bit.”

“Y-yes…”

Like that, Takahashi-san and I left the table.