#37: Time With My Childhood Friend

As Megucchi and I prepared lunch, we agreed not to tell Kurumi that Kyouko chan was part of my harem.

Kurumi was a student at the same school. If she found out, it’d cause all sorts of problems.

While the three of us were eating, Kurumi interrogated me about my overnight stay. She probably wouldn’t have asked if I’d gone alone, but seeing Megucchi and me both gone overnight made her curious.

“We went to our homeroom teacher’s place. We had a cosplay party that went late. Did you want to come too, Kurumi? What a spoiled, lonely little sister.”

“Huh? You’re so annoying.”

“Come on, Megucchi was being so nice. Why are you being mean?”

“Megucchi’s being gross and creepy too, just so you know.”

“So basically, we’re gross but cool?”

“You’re both seriously gross and annoying! Get out of my face!”

Kurumi finished her food and stormed off to her room.

This exchange was intentional—I was steering her away from asking further questions. Megucchi and I work in perfect sync.

From now on, Kurumi will probably avoid the topic. She’ll worry that asking again will result in us getting lovey-dovey in front of her.

After cleaning up with Megucchi, we headed to my room and resumed our homework.

Despite doing the same things as usual, something fundamental had shifted. The awareness between us made every action feel different.

Right now, for example, as we lay on the floor doing homework side by side, we were practically glued to each other. The distance was much closer than before.

Our physical contact had always been frequent, but now it felt fundamentally different.

Before, it was playful and testing. Now it was pure affection and neediness.

When we took breaks, she’d cling to me with her whole body—not just arms, but legs too, wrapping around me. And she kept asking for kisses.

Interestingly, despite Megucchi being bold and outgoing, she had a shy side. She was aggressive with physical displays, but when it came to kisses, she was always passive—waiting for me to initiate rather than doing it herself. In that way, she was the complete opposite of Kyouko chan.

That shyness was exactly what made her so cute.

After studying like this for a while, Megucchi said “Tsukareta~” and her concentration broke, so we took a break.

Lying there, she clung to me again. I decided to ask something I’d been wondering about.

“Megucchi, how was the sleepover?”

“It was really fun. Sakura chan and Kyouko chan were both interesting.”

“So about Kyouko chan—you said you needed time to think about her confession. Did you make a decision?”

“Oh, that. Well… yeah, Megucchi’s fine with Sakura chan being there, and Kyouko chan being there too. So it’s all good.”

“I see. Thanks. You’re truly a childhood friend. A cute childhood friend.”

“Of course I’m cute!”

“But I was worried at first. Kyouko chan kept acting childishly competitive, and you were firing back just as hard.”

“Yeah, but I think Kyouko chan was trying to get closer to us. I didn’t realize it at first, but after talking more, I got that feeling.”

“You picked up on that too? I was thinking the same thing. She probably didn’t want to say it directly because she’d get full of herself and ask for more praise.”

“Once I realized that, I couldn’t really hate her anymore.”

“She’s perverted through and through, but in times like these, she shows real adult wisdom.”

“It’s true. When we were talking, I realized Kyouko chan was actually pretty thoughtful and clever.”

“Her twisted side and her consideration are two halves of the same coin.”

After wrapping up our homework, Megucchi and I spent the rest of the afternoon just lounging around my room, cuddling and relaxing.

When my parents got home that evening, I mentioned the gift from Kyouko chan. My mom got really excited about eating it right away.

The gifts turned out to be assorted dora-yaki pastries.

Kurumi got super hyped.

“Wait, these are from Kishio-an?! The fancy one?! This is insane! They sell out every day!”

“Is that place famous?” I asked.

“Yeah! They were on TV! One dora-yaki costs 730 yen and they sell out daily!”

“730 yen each?!”

Kyouko chan really splurged.

Megucchi sent Kyouko chan a photo of Kurumi enjoying the dora-yaki with a happy face. Kyouko chan replied, “I don’t need Megucchi pics! Send me Mizumoto! Preferably shirtless!” So Megucchi took a picture of me shirtless, eating dora-yaki with an intense, cool gaze, exactly as ordered, and sent it.

But Kyouko chan never responded after that.

She’d probably traveled off into fantasy land.

So even Kyouko chan can’t resist my charm as a man. What a pain.

#37.5: Between Love and Possessiveness—A Young Girl’s Dream

Megucchi and Norio were childhood friends.

We’d lived next door since I was in first grade.

I still have a fuzzy memory of when we first met.

I was so excited that a girl a year younger had moved in next door that I immediately asked her to be my friend.

Her older brother, Norio, was just extra baggage.

I mean, back then, Norio was always picking his nose, didn’t talk much. When I wanted to play with his sister, Kurumi, he’d just tag along. And when he finally did talk, he’d spout nonsense about complicated stuff. In short, he was an incomprehensible weirdo.

It was the same at school.

He’d always sit alone reading books and didn’t try to mix with anyone. Out of pity, I’d invite him to play, and he’d reluctantly come along. He was so twisted for a kid. (Though he’s still twisted now, just saying.)

But I started seeing him differently pretty quickly.

Both my parents and Norio’s worked full-time. Our houses were always empty when we got home from school.

I was alone, so every day I’d head over to Norio and Kurumi’s place. The three of us would play games, do homework together, and always had fun.

And Norio always made dinner for us.

When we were in lower grades, it was just microwave fried rice or cup ramen, but by third grade, he was making curry rice and spaghetti—simple home-cooked meals. That went on until we reached middle school. Kurumi and I pretty much grew up eating Norio’s food.

(Even though we ate the same stuff, it’s wild that Kurumi and I grew up with such different, uh, physical development.)

Among all of Norio’s home-cooked meals, my absolute favorite was cream stew. Norio said it was just normal store-bought roux, but the vegetables were chunky and plentiful, and it had quail’s eggs inside. I’d always ask for seconds whenever he made it.

Back then, I purely admired Norio for being able to cook so well. I thought he was “amazing.” If Norio was around, I could eat delicious food!

But Norio’s usual self was still that incomprehensible weirdo spouting hard-to-understand philosophy, and at school, he barely mixed with other kids. I couldn’t leave him alone, so whether at school or home, I was always fussing over him. Norio only listened to what I said, so we stayed close.

By that point, Norio had become irreplaceable. I wasn’t going to his house to see Kurumi anymore—I was going to see Norio. His house felt like my second home. Eating together, bathing together (no big deal showing our bodies to each other), sleeping in the same futon—it all felt natural. To me, Norio was like a brother, and Kurumi was like a sister.

I think that dynamic started changing in middle school.

By then, Norio was considerate enough to avoid bathing with me. As a result, I started eating dinner at home with my own parents, which felt a little lonely. But when Norio said, “It’s normal to eat with your family,” I understood: “Oh right, Norio and Kurumi aren’t actually family—they’re next-door neighbors.” I accepted it.

Still, I’d show up at his place every night under the guise of getting homework help, and we’d spend time together until bedtime.

Back then, I never thought about romance or anything like that. I was just happy with our simple life, studying together and hearing Norio’s weird rambling. Looking back now, those days were incredibly happy.

The change became really obvious in high school.

Norio suddenly became super active.

That quiet, nose-picking weirdo started approaching cute girls with confidence, trying to charm them with smooth lines like he was from a shoujo manga.

That’s when I got anxious.

My gut told me: If Norio gets a girlfriend, he’ll focus on her and forget about me.

At that point, I was already aware of my feelings, I think. But I told myself it was just possessiveness—I didn’t want to share him—rather than romantic love.

My competitive spirit flared up. I made sure to show him I was there. I dragged him on dates, wore my school swimsuit for him since he seemed into it, and even started bathing with him again after all that time.

Whenever Norio got excited and happy to see me, it made me so glad. That’s when I finally realized.

I like Norio.

No, actually—looking back at all my actions, it’s obvious how much I liked him. People would definitely be like, “She’s that into this guy?!” And they’d be right. I was clueless about my own feelings.

By the time I realized it, though, Norio was still hitting on other girls. Sakura chan started acting like his girlfriend. Then even our homeroom teacher, Kyouko chan, confessed she liked him.

Norio said he liked me, and he’d spend time with me, but his attention was still divided among all these other girls.

At first, I was determined to beat them all—I was gonna fight and win. But then Norio asked me to get along with everyone.

The thing is… Norio’s really gentle to all of them. He cares deeply about every single one. Even when I was angry, none of them ever got mad back.

Just me—I was being stubborn and possessive, wanting him all to myself.

But then they all sat down and talked to me seriously, and it hit me.

If I stop being difficult and just be honest, everything will work out.

I realized I could actually like Kyouko chan too. Not immediately, but I could try.

Now, I still get possessive sometimes and jealous of Sakura chan and Kyouko chan, but I don’t hate them anymore.

Sure, Norio’s annoying and gross and acts like he’s the protagonist, but I can see he really cares about all three of us. He’s hard on himself to make sure none of us feel left out. Sakura chan and Kyouko chan understand that and respect his feelings. They’re all working together. And so am I.

My secret dream—or maybe hope?—is for all four of us to live together someday.

With Sakura chan as the responsible leader type, and Kyouko chan as the eccentric adult who’s got common sense mixed with complete nonsense—the hidden pillar holding everything together—and me as the cheerful glue that keeps everyone connected, and Norio handling all the housework…

Right?

If the four of us became a real family, wouldn’t we be unstoppable?