Chapter 25 – We should probably do this another day

“Yui, let’s decide where we’re going for our date soon.”

“A d-date… Y-yeah. S-sorry, I got all weird.”

“You were cute though, so it’s totally fine.”

“Y-yeah… Th-thank you.”

The reason she got all flustered was probably because I suddenly started patting her head. It’s my fault, so I said that to make sure Yui doesn’t feel bad about it. Plus, what I said about her being cute is true anyway.

More importantly, the real problem is where to go for our date. Honestly, even though I’m saying we should decide, I’m starting to think we should just do it another day. I mean, it’s already pretty late since it’s after school, and on top of that, we’re still middle schoolers. The places we can go are limited. Especially at this time of day.

“Yui, how about we save the date for next time?”

That’s what I was thinking, so even though she looked happy but was still blushing, that’s what I ended up telling her.

“…Huh?”

Then, Yui—maybe she misunderstood something—let out a voice that sounded utterly devastated.

“Just to be clear, it’s not that I don’t want to go on a date with you or anything. It’s just that it’s already getting late, so I thought if we did it another day, we could spend more time together. Like, are you free this Saturday?”

I quickly said that to clear up her misunderstanding.

“Y-yeah, I’m free!”

Then, as if that despairing expression from moments ago had been a complete lie, Yui’s eyes widened slightly, and she spoke with an atmosphere that seemed both surprised and happy at the same time.

“Then how about Saturday? I don’t know about today… but maybe we can call each other tonight and decide where to go together then?”

“Y-yeah. Got it. It’s a promise, okay?”

“Yeah. A promise.”

Today ended up just being us hugging, but that’s not bad in its own way. Actually, it was pretty great.

“Well then, I’m gonna head home.”

“Ah, I’ll walk you back!”

“I don’t know where your house is, but if you do that, you’ll get home late. I can get back by myself.”

“I-it’s fine! I’d be more worried about leaving you alone at this hour, so I’ll walk you home!”

…I know Yui’s saying this because she’s thinking of me, but with memories from my previous world, this feels kind of weird. A guy being walked home by a girl.

“Are you really sure? I’d feel worse if you got home late and someone got mad at you.”

“I’ll be fine. Besides, I’d get in more trouble if I let a boy go home alone!”

…Right. That’s the kind of world this is. But I have my own reasons why I can’t let Yui walk me home. Mana’s probably at home right now. Yes, Mana—the one I suspect might be a yandere. I told her I had something to do so I couldn’t walk home with her, but if she sees me coming back with a girl, and if Mana really is a yandere like I’m imagining, it’ll definitely be bad news. I know that much for sure.

“…Could it be you don’t want me to know where you live? Was what happened earlier actually gross?”

“N-no, it’s nothing like that!”

“Then why don’t you want me to…?”

“…A-actually, maybe I will have you walk me home.”

Seeing Yui ask so sadly, I couldn’t hold back and ended up saying that.

“Y-yeah! Leave it to me!”

…Well, it should be fine. It’s not like I’m inviting Yui inside. We’re not going to run into each other or anything, so it should be okay.

Chapter 26 – So Mana Really Is…

…Well, it should be fine. It’s not like I’m inviting Yui inside. We’re not going to run into each other or anything, so it should be okay.

Thinking that, I had Yui walk me home, and soon my house came into view. …I don’t see Mana. She’s probably inside. …It’ll be fine, right?

“Thanks, Yui. My house is over there, so I’m good from here.”

“Oh, okay. It’s totally fine! It’s normal for a girl to walk a boy home.”

…Normally, well, yeah. It’s a normal thing. A normal thing in this world.

“Even if it’s normal, I was still happy you walked me home, so thank you.”

“Y-yeah… R-really, you don’t need to worry about it.”

Even so, I said that to thank her again. I think it’s important to thank people for things that are considered normal.

“Well then, see you tomorrow, Yui.”

“Y-yeah! See you tomorrow!”

And with that, Yui left. …I can’t help but feel uneasy about a girl walking home alone when it’s starting to get dark, but this is normal in this world. I need to get used to it too.

Thinking that, I watched until Yui disappeared from sight before heading toward my house. Mana has the key, so I need her to open the door for me.

【Mana, I’m home. Can you open the front door?】

Thinking that, I sent her that message. Then, just as the “read” notification appeared instantly as always, I heard the sound of the lock opening at a speed that made it seem like she’d been waiting right by the door the whole time. …She was in my room, right? Isn’t that too fast?

“Ah, thanks, Mana. …Just to check, you were in my room, right?”

“…Yeah. I was there.”

Hearing Mana’s response, I felt something off. …That’s right. This is the same atmosphere she had when I talked about wanting Yui to also become special like Mana is. Wait, wait, wait—if that’s the case, why is this happening now?! I didn’t say anything wrong this time, did I?

“What were you doing, Yuuto? What kind of errand kept you out this late?”

“Uh… W-well, a teacher asked me to do something…”

“A teacher asked a boy? And kept you out this late? What’s that teacher’s name? Someone like that needs to be fired.”

When I said that as an excuse, Mana—either because she didn’t doubt my words or she was just that serious—started saying things like that with a grave expression. This is bad… It’s a lie, so there’s no such teacher, and looking at how Mana is right now, she’s probably serious. That’s exactly why I can’t just give some random teacher’s name.

“Y-you don’t need to go that far.”

“…Hey, Yuuto.”

“Y-yes… what is it?”

“What’s that smell?”

…Smell? What smell? Do I smell? …Sure, I just got back and I can’t say with confidence that I don’t smell, but I don’t think I smell… or rather, I don’t want to think I do.

“Hey, Yuuto, are you listening? Did someone force you to do something? Who? Hey, who? Who was it?”

“M-Mana? What are you saying…”

Before I could finish, Mana hugged me with a clearly strange atmosphere. The question “why?” naturally came to mind, but since I didn’t dislike it, I accepted Mana without saying anything.

“Who made you smell like that?”

…No way, but could it be that Yui hugged me, Yui’s scent got on me, and that’s what Mana’s talking about? …True, she had a nice smell—not perfume exactly, but different from mine.

“I-I’m not really sure, but isn’t it just your imagination, Mana?”

“There’s no way. I know everything about you, Yuuto. I remember everything.”

This is bad. If this keeps up, I’ll have to tell her about Yui. …I plan to tell her eventually, but based on how things went before, I don’t think now is the right time.

“A-anyway, since you waited for me, why don’t we go back to my room?”

It’s not like there’s anything specific to do once we’re in my room, but to somehow deal with this situation, I said that. I figured it’d be better than continuing this conversation right here.

“…No. I won’t be distracted by that. Besides, what are you going to do if that smell gets all over your room?”

…Honestly, if Yui’s scent got all over my room, I’d welcome it, but I obviously can’t say that, so what should I… Oh, I know. I’ll be a bit embarrassed too, but she probably already saw it before anyway. It’s too late now.

“Th-then, maybe I should take a bath. Want to join me, Mana?”

Thinking that, I said it. Then, maybe because I’d taken back control of the situation, Mana’s face turned bright red and she started getting flustered.